Pablo’s Woodlife

Again, it was very cold when I ventured into the woods this weekend. I was quite well prepared and took a flask of tea as I knew I wouldn’t have time to make a brew. The reason for this was the main reason for my outing and that was to test out my new Bushcraft Van! Well, I actually bought it for transporting band kit about, but it’s ideally suited for carrying bushcraft kit about as well. I know that some hardened bushcrafter’s will say it’s defeating the object of walking and carrying kit, but the van I think will enhance the experience. It will extend the versatility of nature watching and bushcraft by having the ability to transport kit and select the appropriate kit at the access point. Besides, one still has to get to the woods in the first place.

I think the van will be more useful in summer, when the warmer weather would extend outings. In the meantime, the van is used for storing bushcraft kit strapped in the back in a box. The most notable item being the hexy burner, mess tins and packet soup. I now don’t have to make the decision to select this at home.

I walked through Airfield woods, this time starting at the the east end. As last time, there was very little movement although I thought I saw a fox briefly running away to the west. This was confirmed later when I came across fox spur, which was very fresh and still warm.

At one of my favourite rest points, I contemplated on other nature watchers comments about the strange winter we are having. Although there’s been a couple of harsh frosts, there have been some of mild days. Some have observed catkin and and other trees budding. I’ve noticed that leaves have fallen later this year, and I noticed that there are still some stubborn oak leaves high on the trees. The temperature today has just crept above freezing, but it is still a very bright and sunny day.

I had two other projects to do today, one was to choose between two bino’s. One was 8×21 the other was 10×25. I chose the 10×25’s because they were slightly better for observing birds at a distance, but they did seem harder to focus properly.

The second mission was to test out a hatchet. I have a very old rusty hatchet, and had read that this was an essential part of bushcraft if you were to build shelters and fires, as even the sturdiest bushcraft knife would not suffice for these tasks. I tried clearing a few branches around my rest point. Of course the hatchet was more effective and I could see the potential for a good sharp non-rusty version. This was something that I had not tried when I was bushcrafting 15 years ago. This will certainly be on my wish list for summer bushcrafting. A Granfors Bruuks Wildlife hatchet or small forest axe appears to be the best buy on the net. I cut myself a walking stick with the axe and the clipper knife and I didn’t even cut myself! Not a bad attempt. Even worthy of taking home. Wife said, “Nice stick. How many times cutting yourself did it take!”

My 3 hour excursion finished with a walk back to the west side of the wood, looking for any decent loose wood to chop! I fancy having a go at making something out of wood, but will only chose wood that’s fallen. I’m still not sure the best wood to use and will explore this at a later date. A philosophy of Mears’ bushcraft is to utilise anything preferably without killing or destroying it unless absolutely necessary. I sincerely agree with this and therefore I will only utilise fallen wood. I found the hatchet sat well tucked into my belt and wasn’t uncomfortable at all. Any larger size probably would be.

My final task today was to have a cuppa in the van on my fold down stool. I watched the rabbits and the crows (the only abundant wildlife today) in the relative comfort of the van!

Today I experimented with kit lists and packing. This is prior to a “dress rehearsal” expedition to the woods to try out all the kit at once.

Just in time, my Aqua bladder arrived through the post and my new Petzl Tikka XP head torch (with coloured filters). A couple more “toys” to play with, but I think very necessary items. I laid out all the kit in the garden and was actually surprised how much there was. I’m planning to go on a dress rehearsal walk and set up a bushcraft camp. Obviously I’m not skilled enough to build shelters yet and I’m not going to rely solely on an open fire for cooking, so the Trangia and basha are going with me.

The first area to zoom into is the utility area (sorry about the photos – a bit bright today).

Two small pouches – an emergency survival kit on the right (containing normal survival items – I’ll write about that another day) and a utility pouch with water proof container (containing matches and string); paracord; bungees; Tikka XP torch; tent pegs and journal.

This area (above) is the more traditional bushcraft kit. This goes on my belt or in the canvass shoulder bag. The possibles pouch (shown on the leather belt) contains basic brew kit; first aid kit; Swiss Army knife; toilet paper and tinder. The mora clipper now goes around my neck as it’s more comfortable than on the belt. The gloves, crook knife, saw, kuksa, binos (and camera) goes in the canvass shoulder bag (as does 1 ltr of water). The hand axe goes in the main bag. To the right of the canvass bag is the basha and cordage which also goes in the main bag.

The main rucksack area (above) consists of a 55 ltr rucksack (sleeping bag is tied on the bottom of the rucksack); the sleep mat will be placed on the outside of the rucksack. Inside the sack are spare clothes (enough for two days) in a large plastic bag; trangia fuel bottle; Swedish Army Trangia; hammock and at the bottom of the picture a ration bag (enough for two days). Just out of picture is the 2.5 ltr Aqua bladder. By the way, on the left of the picture is a small 15 ltr day sack.

And here’s the end result of the main rucksack when everything is packed up.

All I have to do now is put on the belt and slip on the shoulder bag. I organised the interior so that the weightier items were closer to my back and about half way up my back. The hammock is in the right pouch, the basha is in the left. A bivvi bag is in the bottom compartment above the sleeping bag. The rucksack, albeit quite cheap, is completely adjustable and has two aluminium struts and a padded hip support. This make the whole thing quite comfortable even when fully loaded. Still with everything loaded and including the canvass bag, the total weight is 28 pounds. Now I think that’s a bit excessive, but it is for a proposed 2-3 days with everything in. And I mean everything. Obviously on a normal excursion I wouldn’t take both bivvi bag and hammock for example. For just a day trip, I probably wouldn’t take along the trangia and rations. The idea now is to improve my knowledge and skills so that I can get this weight down and take less kit.

For now, it’s off I go on my dress rehearsal…fully loaded!! But you’ll have to read about the result in a day or two’s time.

Tuesday 25 April 2006

The idea for this excursion (I’ll not call it an expedition as it’s too short) was a dress rehearsal for a 2-3 day expedition later on. Primarily, I wanted to know how all my kit worked out and secondly, put into practice the few skills I’ve learned so far.

My plan was to walk to an area I already knew, set up camp, make a couple of basic tools, start a fire, eat, (pre prepared stuff) and prepare to sleep, all in a half day. I would take away any lessons and adjust this for the “main event”. You might think “why is he doing this? Why doesn’t he just go and camp out somewhere?” Well, I am quite a meticulous guy and I believe that planning and training for anything is essential. Yes, I could go straight out, but I’ve not done anything like this for a good 20 years (!) I am 48 years old, and I don’t really like to leave anything to chance when playing with sharp things and burning things.

I packed my kit as in my last post, and was quite surprised at how heavy it all was. I posted my concerns on BushcraftUK and got quite overwhelming and diverse replies. Some people said the more knowledge the less kit while others say why not take enough kit to be comfortable. After all, this is Bushcraft not survival. I concluded that 28 pounds in weight wasn’t really that much, especially when water was taken into consideration. I was taking 3.5 ltrs which was 8 pounds of weight. The total weight seemed quite acceptable in the end. I would like to get the weight down and probably wouldn’t take some items if I knew the weather would be OK.

At last I was off. I dumped the van, hoisted my rucksack, and shoulder bag and on went the hat. A sure sign I mean business! I walked about 2 miles along the hedgerow and into the woods. It was a bright day, but there were threatening rain clouds. I was quite pleased with the rucksack and my packing. The weight seemed to be distributed well. A was quite out of breath and quite hot when I eventually reached my pre-determined site. I actually settled on more open area than previously recce’d. I just fancied a better view of the small valley.

I decided to time each part of the project. This might come in handy as a guide in later excursions. I didn’t really want to rush and make mistakes though. Up went the tarp and hammock. 12 minutes (too long and still having trouble with the tarp knots). I just put up the tarp when it started raining. Good! This will really test things out! I then made a couple of simple tools for cooking. A support for the Billy can, and a stake to hold it. Although simple, I was quite pleased with the result. (10 minutes). I then started gathering wood for my proposed fire. I was going to gather enough wood for a cooking fire and not a whole evening worth. There was plenty of fallen branches in the area, so this was not difficult at all. I didn’t have to cut any branches or chop any kindling.

Next, I prepared the fire under the Billy. I wasn’t actually going to cook with the open fire and Billy as I didn’t know whose wood this was. I hadn’t asked permission and in the UK, someone owns the land wherever you are. In this area, the woodland is amongst farmland. The farmers get a bit uptight when you wander around without permission. I probably would have got away with it since I was far off the beaten track and out of public view, but I decided not to. I did, however, decide to start a fire and put it out after I was satisfied that I could keep it going. In fact, I would not start up my Trangia until I had completed this task.

I gathered some silver birch bark (quite abundant in these woods) and used a bit of tinder from my pouch. Out came the firesteel and knife and…what’s happening? I’ve done this before…and still the ****ing thing won’t light. Is it too wet (it had started to rain) or was the tinder too damp or was the birch bark the wrong type? I actually started to panic! I had to light this fire. 12 strikes…15 strikes…20. I sat back. My pulse was racing. What was happening here? I knew this wasn’t a survival situation. I even had matches with me but still I was panicking that I couldn’t light the fire. My rules said “no fire…no food”. I was going to go hungry. But I couldn’t. If this was real, I would have to eat obviously. I calmed myself down. Deep breaths; rearrange the tinder, and try again. Long slow strikes is the key…plenty of sparks along the whole length of the firesteel. 5…10 strikes and…here we go. An immediate flame. I quickly added a small amount of kindling. We were away. I would be able to eat after all.

I let the fire burn for a few minutes savouring the smell of burning. This smell has always been a comfort for me. Now I truly appreciated why this was. Fire is the key to everything. Is this some primordial instinct or am I just being oversensitive in the situation? I had also learned a lesson. If things go wrong, don’t panic. Stop and think it through. I don’t even know why I did panic. I’ve been in pretty severe situations before.

Anyway, out went the fire, on went the Trangia and down went the chilli beans washed down by a cup of tea (all very British) and some nuts and raisons.

The next task was to try out the sleeping arrangements. This was the bit I was looking forward to! Off went the boots, out came the sleeping bag and then came the problems. I hadn’t tried this out at home and I couldn’t believe how difficult it was trying to get in a sleeping bag which itself is in a hammock. It was like trying to handle a slippery eel! I laughed so much that I was exhausted by the time I had figured out the best way to do this. In the end it was a case of get in the sleeping bag (half way at least) and then “fall” (gently) into the hammock, sorting out the top part of the bag after I got in. At last a bit of rest. I looked out over the top of the sleeping bag, only to see that my feet were getting wet. The tarp was the wrong way round! The short side was along the line of the hammock. I would have to sort that out at home. It had just stopped raining so this was not an issue. I laid back and listened to the woods. The whole thing had taken about 1 hour and 30 minutes. Not bad, despite the little “fire” set back.

My last task was to make another spoon. I had eaten my beans with a spoon I’d made on a previous excursion. I’m not very good at selecting wood and this selection was no exception. I spent 20 minutes carving away. I’d made a nice bowl, when the handle snapped off. It was useable, but it wasn’t a proper spoon. I didn’t even bother to take it with me.

I struck camp, tidied the site, loaded my gear and set off home. On the way I heard the year’s first cuckoo call. I also spotted some Lady’s Smock on the way home along the dried up river bank. Ironically, another name for this delicate pink flower is Cuckoo plant or Cuckoo flower. Researching this later, I found that the young leaves are good in salads tasting like cress. This has given me an idea for a future project. I might try foraging for food soon.

As I walked to the van, I thought about the spoon. No, I couldn’t give up that easily. 30 minutes later, I’d made another spoon. This one was looking good, and I decided to take it with me. I could have easily used it in the field, but I wanted to finish it off properly and sand it down.

My hike to the van seemed long but at least it was mostly down hill. I arrived home exhausted. I’d crammed a day or two’s work into 4 hours and achieved my aim of testing out all my kit.

Lessons learned: Check the tarp and cordage; practice the tarp knots. Don’t panic if things don’t go quite right.

What went well: Carried enough water, good spoon (in the end) and other self-made utensils, new sleeping bag seemed fine, packing and carrying okay.

The images speak for themselves. The reindeer skin I ordered from Stuart at BCUK has arrived. It’s a reasonable size and not a bad colour. The best thing was the price at only £35 (I’ve seen them as much as £85). It’s excellent for laying on the ground, but putting it in the hammock takes a little more skill. I can lay on it and only the bottom of my legs stick out. It will be excellent insulation in the colder months and should replace my foam mat.

The only trouble is, how do I carry it? It doesn’t exactly fold up small, and it looks like I will have to strap on top of my rucksack, which is something I don’t like doing as it will snag on branches and the like. I’ll have to experiment with that one.

Not exactly the best time to try it out either, as temperatures have soared to 25 degrees C here in England. Apparently, reindeer hair is hollow which adds to the insulating properties. The fur is so soft and the actual skin is amazingly thick. This will definitely be an asset to wild camping. I can see the skin inserted into the bivvi bag with the sleeping bag on top for the best use. In the meantime… it’s in the hammock!

So…how do you get the kit listed in the last post into a 55 litre bag + rations for 5 days? Answer…surprisingly easy actually. The tarp and hammock goes in the side pouches; the cookset and 1 litre of fuel on top of spare trousers inside the sack (near the centre o

So…how do you get the kit listed in the last post into a 55 litre bag + rations for 5 days? Answer…surprisingly easy actually. The tarp and hammock goes in the side pouches; the cookset and 1 litre of fuel on top of spare trousers inside the sack (near the centre of gravity) with the hand axe & and (empty) water container; spare shirts, wash kit, socks underwear and mosquito net padding out the bag in the main area of the sack; the bivvi bag & utility pouch and plate in the bottom pouch; and food at the top. The rucksack lid contains two hats and first aid kit. The sleeping bag is located on the bottom. I’m not carrying water, but will collect 3.5 litres on a daily basis.

It’s a tight squeeze so I’ve decided to put some lighter kit in a daysack. The idea now is to strap or ‘piggy-back’ the daysack (about 15-20litres) on to the main sack. This I did using the daysack hip belt to wrap around the main sack. A top strap with quick release buckle stops the daysack falling down. The finishing touch is the reindeer skin wrapped around a water proof jacket and located just under the daysack. And to think I nearly splashed out £130 on a Karrimor Sabre 70 litre sack. I would have loved to get it, but I just couldn’t justify it for the amount of Bushcrafting I do at the moment. Maybe next year.

Does it work? Well…I didn’t walk too far this weekend, but it did seem stable enough. What I did like was the low profile of the whole carry system with nothing dangling off the sack. It was quite heavy, but evenly distributed with the main weight around the centre of gravity. After setting up camp, I decided to ditch a pair of trousers and swap out training shoes for sandals. I’m not too bothered about the weight as I’m not actually hiking over the 5 days. I was surprised at the weight of the food. I’m not living off the land, so it’s lots of all in one soup/stew type meals. I’m trying to avoid tins, but a couple will be inevitable for a varied and tasty diet. I’ve still got to get fresh rations in and of course a bottle of port. In total I was quite pleased with the rucksack ‘mod’. It even looked good. The reindeer skin does make things a lot heavier and bulkier, but could I leave it behind? Nah.

I’ve got my essentials and tools in my shoulder bag. I’ll talk about this in the next post.

It’s all looking quite good, and I’m reasonably happy everything is tested and can be packed easily. I tested out everything in the woods and practiced setting up again. I can set up camp in about 20 minutes, which is fine for me. All in all it looks like I’m ahead of schedule here and I’m pleased with preparations. Can’t wait. I’m like a kid here!!

A word about the weather. No rain again. Things are looking very dry in the wood and I’ve noticed that the nettles are dying and ponds have dried out. It’s that hot, there’s very little movement in the wood. The rooks and crows are walking about with beaks open. We’re expected to hit 90F + this week. At least I’m getting used to sleeping in my hammock by sleeping in the garden every night.

See you next time.

f gravity) with the hand axe & and (empty) water container; spare shirts, wash kit, socks underwear and mosquito net padding out the bag in the main area of the sack; the bivvi bag & utility pouch and plate in the bottom pouch; and food at the top. The rucksack lid contains two hats and first aid kit. The sleeping bag is located on the bottom. I’m not carrying water, but will collect 3.5 litres on a daily basis.

It’s a tight squeeze so I’ve decided to put some lighter kit in a daysack. The idea now is to strap or ‘piggy-back’ the daysack (about 15-20litres) on to the main sack. This I did using the daysack hip belt to wrap around the main sack. A top strap with quick release buckle stops the daysack falling down. The finishing touch is the reindeer skin wrapped around a water proof jacket and located just under the daysack. And to think I nearly splashed out £130 on a Karrimor Sabre 70 litre sack. I would have loved to get it, but I just couldn’t justify it for the amount of Bushcrafting I do at the moment. Maybe next year.

Does it work? Well…I didn’t walk too far this weekend, but it did seem stable enough. What I did like was the low profile of the whole carry system with nothing dangling off the sack. It was quite heavy, but evenly disributed with the main weight around the centre of gravity. After setting up camp, I decided to ditch a pair of trousers and swap out training shoes for sandles. I’m not too bothered about the weight as I’m not actually hiking over the 5 days. I was surprised at the weight of the food. I’m not living off the land, so it’s lots of all in one soup/stew type meals. I’m trying to avoid tins, but a couple will be inevitable for a varied and tasty diet. I’ve still got to get fresh rations in and of course a bottle of port. In total I was quite pleased with the rucksack ‘mod’. It even looked good. The reindeer skin does make things a lot heavier and bulkier, but could I leave it behind? Nah.

I’ve got my essentials and tools in my shoulder bag. I’ll talk about this in the next post.

It’s all looking quite good, and I’m reasonably happy everything is tested and can be packed easily. I tested out everything in the woods and praticed setting up again. I can set up camp in about 20 minutes, which is fine for me. All in all it looks like I’m ahead of schedule here and I’m pleased with preparations. Can’t wait. I’m like a kid here!!

A word about the weather. No rain again. Things are looking very dry in the wood and I’ve noticed that the nettles are dying and ponds have dried out. It’s that hot, there’s very little movement in the wood. The rooks and crows are walking about with beaks open. We’re expected to hit 90F + this week. At least I’m getting used to sleeping in my hammock by sleeping in the garden every night.

See you next time.

I’m slowly catching up on my journal entries after the last few posts about the Bushmoot. Since I’ve been back, I’ve been trying to put into practice some of the things I’ve learned during the moot as well as reviewing some of the kit I carry.

First on the hit list was my belt. I found it too heavy carrying it around all day. I swapped out the heavy leather sheath for my Frosts Clipper and replaced it with the plastic one. I then made a neck carry out of paracord. I intend to carry it around my neck or in my shoulder bag. There is an option to put the sheath back on the belt if I want. I find it is easier to work with the neck carry. The knife is always there without the need of searching and contorting myself to find it on the belt. After use, it’s straight back in the sheath without the temptation of laying it down somewhere.

All that’s left on the belt now is the leather possibles’ bag in which I carry small essentials: SAK, back up throw away lighter, toilet paper, tinder, sachet of coffee, band aids, streri-strips, antiseptic wipes and a tea bag. The belt loop of the pouch is secured to the belt by a small karabiner so that it hangs below the belt line. This is to stop interference with rucksack hip straps. The Opinel No.8 sits next to the pouch, the ferro rod is on a leather braided key fob, and a karabiner. I’m debating whether to put my wooden kuksa on the belt as well or just leave it in my shoulder bag. I noticed Mors always had his kuksa on him and refused to drink out of anything else. It wasn’t a wooden one though, but a simple yellow folding cup.

My second project was to attend to my Granfors Small Forest Axe (SFA) bought at the moot. As Mors advised, I soaked the head of the axe in coolant for 24 hours. I wasn’t too sure about this, but after seeking advice from the BCUK forum I found this was standard practice for wood treatment. Propylene Glycol serves as a Humectant – a substance that helps retain moisture content and helps stop splitting. I also followed advice by coating the haft with linseed oil. Unfortunately, my wife bought me raw linseed oil and again (not having a clue about these things) I researched about the difference between raw and boiled linseed oil. If you want more info, follow this link. Needless to say, I used the raw oil for the handle, not being in a great hurry for the drying process to finish.

Having found success in ‘tree-dwelling’ with hammock and tarp, I’ve now turned my attention to my ‘ground dwelling’ system. I’ve re-packed my ‘bedroll’ and splashed out on a Thermarest. I’ll write about all this in the next post. Oh yeah…I’ve also ordered a tent!

Keen to try out some new skills, I took advantage of the damp and muddy ground to do some tracking. It was amazing that the tracks just leapt out at me, and I managed to identify badger and fox tracks and even take an educated guess of what they were doing at the time and where they might have gone when the tracks ran out. I’ve bought another tracking book by Preben Bang & Preben Dahlstrom and I’m busy relearning lost skills from a number of years ago when I used to track on a regular basis.

A number of thistles are in bloom at the moment and very noticeable are the red berries of the Cuckoo pint or ‘Lords and Ladies’ (Arum) which are highly poisonous.

More next time and thanks for visiting.

Having had a bit of success with ‘tree-dwelling’ with hammock and tarp over the last couple of months, my attention has changed to sleeping on the ground. I’ve already practiced setting up the tarp as a bivvi with just a pole at the front as well as tying the ridge line to two trees. Both these systems seem to work okay, but probably only for sheltered areas.

To try this without a tarp cover is a different matter but I have given it a go in the back garden. The bivvi bag is the most essential item, and I bought an ex-British army one from ebay. (Didn’t have them in my day!) It was reasonably comfortable and in fact increases the temperature of the sleep system by a couple of degrees Celsius. The reindeer skin added to the ground insulation. It wasn’t entirely comfortable though, so I splashed out on a Thermarest. Quite an expensive item and probably the most money I’ve spent out on a single bushcraft item, but weighing up the pro and cons, I decided that at my age, I really can’t afford to get ill with back colds through lack of insulation.

The Pro-lite 3 version duly arrived and I was soon testing out in the garden with my ‘bedroll’. Putting the reindeer skin on top of the Thermarest was an added luxury, but it did in fact make the bedroll a little cumbersome and heavy. To pack this away in or on the rucksack caused a few problems but I persevered and packed up the skin in the bivvi bag to make a neat (and waterproof) pack to strap on the outside of the rucksack. The Thermarest packs up in its own stuff sack.

All in all the Thermarest is great. After a few minutes, the self-inflating system has blown up the mat to a reasonable thickness, and a couple of extra breaths completes it to ‘luxury’ level. It appears quite robust and by placing it inside the bivvi bag, it is even more protected. I can’t help thinking that if I was really wanting to save space and weight, the reindeer skin would have to go, but at the moment, it’s still on the kit list for ground and tree dwelling.

I’ve yet to test the system in the field, but during a moderately cold and windy night in the garden, I was very comfortable.

I’m certainly beginning to feel as though I’ve got quite a few options now for sleeping out, including of course the ability to build basic shelters from natural material which I will try out pretty soon.

More next time.

Personal Survival Kits (PSKs) have always been a feature of my kit, even in the days when bushcraft wasn’t called bushcraft and I suppose I fell into the category of ’survivalists’ of the late 1980s. At that time I was influenced by the esteemed Lofty Wiseman who avowed that everyone should carry a survival tin (described in the excellent SAS Survival Handbook). This was a tobacco tin filled with all manner of items to assist in an emergency survival situation.

I’ve since modified my kit many, many times and probably still not 100% satisfied that I’m carrying the right kit for the right situation. I’ve now refined what I carry for where I’m going and what I’m doing and have now in fact got 3 PSKs. The first one I carry on me at all times and is neatly packed away in my possible’s pouch which I carry on my belt. I know I’m not going to be too far away from my main kit, but you never know. Hence in the pouch I carry a SAK, tinder, disposable lighter, sachet of green heat gel, tea bag, sachet of sugar, Aluminium foil (thanks American Bushman for this one), band-aid, headache tablets, steri-strip, toilet paper and antiseptic wipe.

My second PSK is for my shoulder bag. Again, I usually haul this along with me. It adds to the kit in the possible’s pouch with a sachet of coffee, beef jerkey (not home made, but vacuum packed), a maglite solitaire, sewing kit, plastic bag and another SAK. The actual shoulder bag has some nuts and raisons inside and there’s always 1/2 litre of water. (The shoulder bag carries tools, notebook, binos, camera tracking kit).

My last PSK only gets packed when I go into an area I’ve not been before, or when I’m out for more than a day. This is more akin to Lofty Wiseman’s tin, although I keep it in a water resistant wallet. A wire saw, fishing line, weights, candle, scalpel, whistle, drinking straw, waterproof matches, mini firesteel, and emergency poncho add to the other PSKs. Of course a full first aid kit is added to the kit list.

I suppose you could call my PSKs a modular system and with the addition of a utility kit (containing tent pegs for the tarp, Petzl Tikka XP head-torch, paracord, bungees and water stone) I think I’ve got most items suitable for any emergency situation. Of course it helps to have the Granfors axe and the Mora Clipper.

When I was reorganising my PSKs this morning, little did I know that I was actually going to need an item from one of them. It wasn’t exactly an emergency or survival situation, but a lesson in bushcraft philosophy.

I decided to leave the trangia at home since I had had a pretty good breakfast. After spending a while in the new wood, climbing the watch tower and making a pot stand, I decided to have a brew. There had been a downpour mid week and everything was damp. Although the sun was shining, there was a fierce wind and I had trouble lighting a fire with the firesteel.

The birch bark tinder lit ok which was quite surprising, but there was no way the kindling was going to stay alight. Instead of giving up, I looked in the PSK to see what I had. The disposable lighter had no effect in the wind. Although green heat gel is useless for cooking (it doesn’t even boil water) it does make a good fire starter and it duly did the trick. After a while, my crusader mug was boiling away on top of a nice little fire.

Not a particularly bushcraft type solution to the problem, but if I was in a survival situation, this would have been a life-saving action when all else fails. In this instance I could have sat there remaining thirsty or just gone home; but this was about not giving up and thinking through what other options were available (on a very small scale of course). In this case it was a pretty easy solution. Thinking about it now, even though bushcraft is about living close to nature and using basic methods, it also means being comfortable in that environment. If that means using all available resources to do this, then so be it.

Even though I’m envious of the vast wild expanses of North America and Canada – both places I’d love to visit for bushcrafting purposes – I can’t help thinking that for diversity in a woodland, you can’t beat an English wood, especially our ancient woodland. They might be small, but there is an intimacy that you can’t resist. I’ve been frequenting my particular wood now for 9 months and have nearly come full circle in its life cycle.

Although I’ve not seen anything spectacular in the way of wildlife, I’ve become more aware of the inhabitants and I’m beginning to know where to find them, what they will be doing and how to watch them. The woods themselves never cease to amaze me. Two months ago, I couldn’t see any tracks because of the high undergrowth. Now, the woods are again giving up secrets that I didn’t know existed, even for a tiny wood.

It was one of these secrets I stumbled on today. I wandered deep into the wood where I don’t normally go. I was in search of some cramp ball fungus that grows abundantly in the area. I suddenly came across a small clearing on the north side. How I’d not seen it before was a mystery even though I don’t frequent the area that often. Unlike the rest of the wood, it was quite grassy and being in the north edge, it was quite open to the sky. It was an ideal spot for a bushcraft site. I set to work immediately, seeing if the hammock would fit between the trees and foraging for wood. I’m not sure what the drainage would be like when it really rains hard as the north side does tend to get quite waterlogged, but for now, it makes a fine site.

After a quick lunch, I turned my attention to the kit I’d brought on this excursion. I’m getting a bit paranoid of late, not so much about what I take, but what I take it in. I have to have my usual bushcraft tools i.e. knife, folding saw, string, tinder, binoculars, sandpaper, neck scarf, gloves, heat gel, 1/2 litre of water, camera and my mobile phone. These would go in a shoulder bag which is normally my Raider bag. It’s a great little bag as it has back straps as well as a shoulder strap, but I can’t really get any more kit in it. If I take a trangia, tarp and hammock, I have to resort to a day bag rucksack.

Today I took my all the contents of the Raider bag and what I consider my day kit (trangia, tarp, hammock ration bag) in my 15-20 litre rucksack and was pleased with the result. It was much more comfortable to wear. I even managed to hang my axe on the side. I think from now on I’ll save the Raider bag for very short excursions. As I said in a previous post, the day bag has the additional advantage of ‘piggy backing’ on my main rucksack with a slight modification.

I finished off the day visiting my old friends the red dragonflies. They were still there, and still making last ditch attempts to oviposit in any greenery they can find. I’m amazed that at the end of the first week in October, they’re still about. It is very mild still although the evenings are getting colder. Time to think of a few winter projects. I think I’ve got a couple in mind. More about that later.

I’ve been waiting for a while but at last it’s here! Probably the first major upgrade to my kit that I’ve made. I’ve been keeping my eyes out for a new rucksack to replace my cheapy Eurohike 55 litre. I found that during the bushmoot in August, I had a bit of a struggle getting all my kit in. Now that winter is just around the corner, I could envisage that I would need even more room, so I’ve been keeping an eye out for another bag.

I nearly went for one of the Highlander sacks. They are pretty cheap but there’s only a 66 or 88 litre. I’ve always wanted a Karrimor either a 75 or 60-100 but the prices have been prohibitive (£130-£150 for a Sabre 75). Keeping an eye out on ebay, I saw my chance for a Karrimor Sabre 75. This one also had the 2 x 15 litre side pouches thrown in as well. These retail at about £36 on their own. I put my bids in in the vain hope that I might win. Imagine my surprise when I did win it and at only £89!

It was going to come from France, and again I was a bit dubious, but the lady selling it kept up great communication and emailed me when it was on the way. When it arrived, I was astonished that it had obviously rarely been used and even smelt new!

So here it is. I decided to put on the side pouches immediately and will probably leave them in. This potentially puts the capacity to over 100 litres if needed. The side compression straps keep the pouches in check and if they’re not being used, you can compress the bag to a very narrow size, in fact narrower than the Eurohike.

Opening up the side pouches and loosening the compression straps makes main area of the sack like a cavern! The carrying straps and hip belt are all padded as you would expect, and there’s a nice lumber pad. There’s no back length adjuster, but by playing with the various tension straps, you can get the bag to sit very comfortably on hips and shoulders. The lid has a large capacity as well and Karrimor obviously know that users would want to access this quickly. There’s ample room for first aid kit, waterproofs, fleece hat, face towel and a few emergency provisions.

The whole thing is very robust and should last a good while. It looks good with a double ‘chain’ running down the front of the sack and a few extra hanging loops. And…what’s this? A hidden zip pocket running all the way down the front of the rucksack. What will go in there? It’s very narrow…aha! The Granfors SFA fits in there a treat. This bag is just made for bushcraft and as you can probably tell, I’m extremely happy so far.

The test is in the loading and first of all, I checked whether the Vaude Ferret tent fitted in the main compartment. No problem there. Next I did a full load out for a week to ten day trip. There was still room for some more kit; however, I did sling the sleeping bag on the lower hanging straps. The bag was, of course, pretty heavy but it felt comfortable and well balanced.

Off to the woods then even though it looked like a downpour was imminent. On the way I came across a couple of Lapwings making use of the puddles on the ground. I set up the tarp and hammock and only just had time to play with another new toy (more about that later) before the heavens opened. Nothing to do now other than sit the rain out and have some soup. Unfortunately, the rain didn’t stop and didn’t look like it was going to, so I packed up and headed home. , I noticed as when I was at the bushmoot that the bottom of the hammock was wet. I traced this down to the hammock lines. I have heard that this happens in torrential rain and must think of a couple of ways to keep the hammock dry. Metal drip rings spring to mind. I will have to look at this at a later date.

The main purpose of the excursion was to test out the rucksack. So far a resounding success. Would I have paid out the full price for one? Having tried one out, I think I would have. What I didn’t realise was that far from being a major expedition rucksack, it compresses down small enough to be used as a weekend rucksack.

I’ll post again in a couple of days time. More kit?! You bet! Thanks for reading.